Bodycam footage released of deadly New Year’s Eve arrest of Mississippi man
JACKSON, Miss. May 27 2023 Bodycam footage has been released of the encounter between Jackson police and Keith Murriel, a Black man who died in custody on New Year’s Eve.
The video comes after the indictment of former officers Avery Willis, Kenya McCarty and James Land, who are charged in Murriel’s death.
Jackson police initially said in a statement that the 41-year-old father of two died after experiencing a “medical emergency” on the scene.
The incident appears to begin on the night of Dec. 31 when Murriel was told to leave the property of the Extended Stay hotel on Beasley Road.
Officers can be heard on bodycam explaining to their sergeant that the security guard at the hotel had told them that Murriel had been harassing pedestrians in the parking lot, and that the security guard told Murriel to leave “at least eight times.”
Murriel would eventually leave the property but later returned while officers were still on the scene. That’s when he was tackled to the ground and police repeatedly used a stun gun on him.
The officers later told their sergeant that they had “no choice” but to use the stun gun on him.
Attorneys for Murriel allege he was stunned “over 80 times” during the course of his arrest. He would also be cuffed three times.
Murriel eventually passed out and was placed in the back of an officer’s police car. An ambulance was called, and once it arrived, chest compressions began.
The three officers involved in the arrest were indicted by a grand jury on May 12. Willis and McCarty are charged with second-degree murder, and Land is charged with manslaughter.
